We recently had the pleasure of visiting a small pictograph site a fair bit off the beaten track. This site is hidden in a boulder pile sitting above a small wash, and it also features a rock with some grinding slicks. I’ve heard that the slicks had a mano ( the smoothed stone used to grind material on the slick ) sitting nearby, but it was gone when I visited. Pity. It seems like these artifacts get restless when people visit these sites – please don’t help them wander away when you visit!
Even with that bit of history gone this site was still great to visit. There’s a large overhang nearby that is a little too low for comfortable use, but once you walk past that you find this grinding station tucked in behind, and then, around another boulder, there is a very interesting pictograph site. Let’s check it out!
After scrambling up into a boulder pile because I thought a low overhang looked promising, I find this really neat grinding slick station tucked between two boulders.
A close look at one of the slicks, so you can see how smoothed the rock face is. There used to be a grinding stone here, I’ve heard, but that stone appears to be missing now. If you stumble on these sites, take care not to disturb them. Others would like to enjoy the site as you found it. After all, you only get to see it in its present state because earlier visitors were mindful and respectful of the site. Let’s keep the chain going!
Just a ways past the grinding station, further into the rock pile, we find a really nice overhang with pictographs. Wow!
If you looked closely at the lower left of the previous picture, you may have noticed a very small alcove. Here’s a closer look. Some pigment in there, maybe? Sure looks like it!
Definitely pigment, but the design is weathered. Looks like both red and white pigment was featured.
Let’s look at the main shelter next. There are quite a few designs in here, though some seem to be affected by exfoliation. From the red dots on the right to the design barely peeking out in the upper left corner, there is plenty to see here.
With DStretch you can get a better overview of what we’ll be looking at next.
Over on the right, these evenly spaced dots and other elements are most prominent. Take a second to look closely at this image – there is more to it than meets the eye.
In particular, than burst element! Notice anything odd about it?
First, let’s lean in really close with a natural color look. The element is quite faded.
With DStretch, we can see what is unusual about this element. There appears to be a second burst nestled within the larger one. I’ve seen some elements like this at a site in the Sierra foothills, but I haven’t seen any in this area before I visited this site.
This element is the best preserved at the site, and roughly in the center of the overhang, too. I think it may be a partial element – it looks like the area around it was destroyed by exfoliation.
High above this element, on the lip of the overhang, I notice some pigment. Nothing very distinct, but I still take a picture for future reference.
Even with DStretch nothing really jumps out. Sometimes an element is very weathered, or damaged, or it might even be natural pigmentation! Hard to tell. My outtakes are full of pictures of this sort. Thank goodness for modern DSLR cameras. I can’t imagine the heartbreak of developing film just to discover there was nothing much to see in the first place.
Before moving on to the rest of the shelter, let’s have one more look at those dots. Unusual design for this part of the desert.
Now for a look at the remaining elements. The net-like or diamond-shaped design up top is made with a maroon-ish pigment. I’ve seen this pigment here and there in Joshua Tree National Park, and I’ve also seen animal droppings with that coloring. It must be from some fruit or berry that grows in the area, but I’m not sure which. Also visible in this picture are some red and white elements, bottom left.
DStretch helps a lot as far as spotting the white pigment goes. I think those are some rake motifs. Unusual to see them in white.
A real close look at those elements.
The net-like design is much better defined than the red dots around the white rakes. These diamond-motif pictographs are often said to have some association with puberty rites. In this case it is worth noting that the diamond shape seems to extend downwards, almost forming a net.
This net-like design is painted in a darker, more maroon-colored pigment, and also seems a bit more precise than the other elements, which seem to have fuzzier edges. In addition, it is also tucked in up under the overhang, away from the other elements. I wonder if it was painted at a different time?
Here’s an image taken while looking up at the ceiling of the overhang. It shows how close to the edge the net-like design is.
Another glance at the net-like design. The ethnographic record associates diamond patterns with female fertility rites, but the creation myths of some nearby tribes mention Mukat, the creator, using a net to cast the sun into the sky. Given the net-like shape of this pattern, we might be looking at a depiction of a creation myth here. The sun was said to have twin sons ( the two dots in the lower right? ). One should be really careful about assigning an interpretation to the imagery at any given site, but the common threads of myth and repeating pictograph elements are nonetheless intriguing and adds depth and meaning to visits to these sites.
Our exploration here is at an end. With a last glance into the shelter we bid it farewell.
This was an interesting little site to visit – tucked away around the corner, with some very interesting imagery. If you visit, make sure to leave it just the way you found it. It is hidden enough that the only ones who find it now will be fellow adventures who love the desert and its secrets and will most likely respect it.
That was also the first double sun-burst I remember seeing. I found the manos and put them on the slick some time ago. Both were broken so I didn’t think there was much danger of anybody taking them. About a month later I had second thoughts and went back to the site. I was glad I did because there were some climbers very close to the site. I took the manos off the slick and hid them for safekeeping.
Here is a link to my post on the site: http://patricktillett.blogspot.com/2017/03/unknown-pictograph-and-habitation-site.html
Ah, so that’s what happened to the manos! Good to know they weren’t carried off. Next time I’m in the area I’ll have a look around and see if I can find them. Interestingly enough, since visiting this site I’ve been to two sites in JTNP where there were manos in situ. ( Haven’t written those entries up, yet. ) Always a special moment when one finds such places.
Let me know when you are going to visit that site and I’ll tell you exactly where they are. I’ve also been to a couple of sites where the manos were in place. Also, one site where there is a “portable” metate just sitting there. I’m pretty sure the park knows nothing about it, or it wouldn’t still be there.
Thank you! I will!
“Portable” metates! Let me think … I can think of four sites in JT that I’ve been to that had “portable” metates – “portable” meaning, a small grinding surface on a loose rock that could have been moved around the site, maybe to follow the shade, or possibly even carried some ways. One of those sites still had a mano in place, too. So that would bring my total up to four with metates not on bedrock or giant boulders, three ( once I visit this site again! Haha ) with manos. Some of those sites were pretty far of the beaten track, so even though I know at least one of them has been recorded by the Park I bet nobody wanted to haul the metate back to the archives! Haha.
Found some small sherds here and there, but nothing large.
The arrowheads I’ve come across ( none in JT ) are all still at the sites I found them, and I seldom even post that I found any when I write about the sites. No need to give that information to sticky fingers, right!